Unsettling discovery shows thousands of web sites at risk

Security specialists at Finjan report today they have stumbled upon what may be the biggest cache of stolen website details ever amassed by cyber-crooks. FTP server details -- including the user name, password and server addresses -- from thousands of large sites were contained in the database, Finjan said, no doubt meant to be sold off to scam artists. The 8,700 stolen FTP accounts found include some of the world’s top hundred domains, Finjan added.

The discovery appears to be another piece of evidence pointing to a new trick favoured by cyber fraudsters: infecting large websites with malware. Over the past six months, there has been an alarming increase in the number of sites that are unknowingly hosting malicious code, infecting their visitors with an errant click. Sure enough, Finjan reports, "these stolen  (FTP server) credentials enable criminals to compromise servers and automatically inject crimeware to infect users visiting them".

"You could pick any server you wanted in the list, pay for it" and launch an attack with very little effort, Finjan CTO Yuval Ben-Itzhak told Computer World.

Comments

[Anonymous]

"crimeware"...

"You could pick any server you wanted in the list, pay for it" and launch an attack with very little effort

lol, internets.

[Home networking guides articles and news]

This is exactly why username/password details should be changed frequently.

[Wut?]

OH NO!Someone has violated my Vital SecurityTM computer with crimeware and crawled out of my monitor please send

[Simon]

Recently I bought a new PC. Apart from the improved tech aspect, I thought that my new IP sould eliminate the nuisance that pop up ads; "you won a laptop", "You are the nth winner" and the most stupid "En solo 18 meses.. The University of Phoenix" make me wish to shoot the guys responsible. My pop up protection works 50%. How can one find out who is placing those pop ups?

Simon